Article: The Red Sox Have Lost the Human Element Under Craig Breslow's Leadership

[Maddie Landis]

Baseball has always been my escapism from the drama of everyday life. (If I’m seeking drama-riddled sports, I can tune into an early morning European football match on the weekend.) Even during the Chaim Bloom era, I found myself looking forward to watching games. Secretly streaming Red Sox games on my phone helped make my college night classes bearable. Sadly, the Red Sox are less enjoyable to watch in 2025 than in previous years because the organization is rife with drama, stemming from the front office’s leadership and poor communication skills.

Conflict has the potential to be healthy if handled properly with effective communication. The Red Sox’s divorce with Rafael Devers is the perfect case study on how not to address conflict. With that being said, the Devers trade is not black and white — it’s a nuanced issue, and I think both sides are culpable for communicating poorly.

The front office dynamics in professional sports are unique. Athletes generate revenue for the team with their performances, merchandise sales, etc. Theoretically, they should hold the bargaining power, but they’re ultimately told what to do by the front office. A self-governed team would be an interesting social experiment, perhaps conducted by Nathan Fielder?

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Breslow, 43, is well-versed in using advanced data and technology to aid in amateur scouting, player development, roster-building, and game-planning. But at the same time, he has a first-hand knowledge of clubhouse dynamics and the need to factor that into decision-making.

- Pete Abraham, “The Red Sox’ hiring of Craig Breslow is a best-of-all-worlds move"

The Red Sox hired Craig Breslow as their Chief Baseball Officer in late October 2023. Relationship building, whether it’s professional or personal, is a hallmark of personal fulfillment. As Buster Olney noted, Breslow did little to ingratiate himself with the face of the franchise over his one year and seven months tenure. 

Last May, it was reported that Craig Breslow hired Sportsology Group to conduct an audit of the team’s baseball operations department. The move was reminiscent of McKinsey’s infamous audit of the Astros, which raised eyebrows across the league. Why mix big business and baseball? Following the audit, several seasoned scouts were fired, fueling growing tension and discontent within the team’s scouting department. 

This unrest reached a boiling point last month during an internal Zoom meeting. Believing the call ended, Carl Moesche, the Red Sox’s former scouting supervisor, reportedly said, “Thanks, Bres, you f***ing stiff”. Any competent leader would have fired Moesche on the spot for undermining their authority in such a manner. However, the real question worth pondering is: what led Moesche to make such a comment? Was it just one disgruntled employee, or are there deeper issues at play? It’s likely that other scouts privately share Moesche’s frustrations, but they were more cautious in voicing their opinions.

Adding fuel to the fire, the Red Sox were listed as one of the least scout-friendly teams in Baseball America’s 2025 Scout Survey. Last year, Alex Speier reported that the front office staff and scouts were asked to accept pay cuts to remain with the organization. Baseball scouts, by nature, are scattered across the country, evaluating players in various locations. Moesche’s outburst could have been avoided if there had been more direct communication and in-person meetings at the start of the season. Coming from the Cubs, where Breslow worked remotely from his home in Newton, he may have been more accustomed to an online-focused environment and brought these principles with him to the Red Sox. In baseball, effective leadership and the ability to maintain personal connections are critical skills. While remote work may be an inevitable trend, certain aspects of traditional interaction, like face-to-face meetings, remain essential for fostering team cohesion and maintaining morale.

The Red Sox have overlooked the human element in their hiring process for baseball operations positions. Joon Lee reported that the Red Sox used AI bots to conduct interviews with candidates for not one but five rounds of interviews. Technology is beneficial, but at the end of the day, humans are the best judges of a candidate’s potential. Winning organizations are built on strong, human relationships from the ground up, and good employees can't be effectively assessed or developed solely through AI. Moreover, now that the public is aware of the team's automated hiring process, it discourages qualified candidates to apply for future positions.

Speaking from personal experience, I applied for Fenway Sports Management’s Associate Program back in 2023 and was prompted to provide a video on HireVue, a video-based AI recruiting platform. I chose not to submit the video at the time, as I had just started a new job (which I still hold today), but I can’t help but wonder if there were additional video interviews following the first one.

This leads us to John Henry, the owner of the Red Sox. When Henry took over the team (under Fenway Sports Group) in 2003, the Red Sox were his main priority. He frequently attended games and seemed to be in tune with the state of the organization. However, since expanding Fenway Sports Group’s portfolio with ventures like the purchase of Liverpool FC (2010), Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (2007), and the Pittsburgh Penguins (2022), his involvement with the Red Sox appears to have waned.

On Friday, June 13th, Liverpool announced a record-breaking transfer to sign Florian Wirtz. While Henry is free to allocate his resources and time as he sees fit, effective delegation and management are crucial for the success of the Red Sox. Under Craig Breslow’s leadership, it’s clear that the human element and the connection between management and the team has been lost, and the Red Sox are paying the price for it. Delegating proper management for the Red Sox is of the uttermost importance. Craig Breslow has demonstrated that, while he may be an excellent baseball analyst, he isn't an effective leader of men, and the Red Sox have lost the human element under his leadership.

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[Hugh2]

Wait......the Red Sox had a human element under Bloom???

[TedYazPapiMookie]

Last three GMs

DD - Brings a ton of talent in Price, Sale, JD and others, they win 3 division titles and a ring

Bloom - Dumps Mookie and Price, then repurposes the entire 2018 championship team except Devers who he over-pays by $10Million a year for a DH and 5 years longer than Devers will be serviceable

Breslow - Figures out the politics of the organization and has Cora recruit Bregman so Devers will retire his glove which should have happened at least 7 years earlier then trades for Crochet, Bregman, Giolito and Sandoval in hopes of improving the horrid pitchers from Bloom but mistakenly gives away Sale for a bad 2B prospect showing he's not perfect.

Three resumes and you have problems with the last one?  Not the one that destroyed the franchise?

Breslow is a godsend.  He not only made Cora do the dirty work in getting Devers to move to DH but then he shipped him out of town and recovered $260 Million to use elsewhere if the owners don't have another psychotic break like they did when they fired Dombrowski.

I think everything is going the best it has since Dombrowski was fired.  No complaints at all.  Now if he figures out the complex politics of firing Cora, he will be my idol and win an organizational MVP!!!!

[Bellhorn04]

Another fine article, Maddie.  I like that you're not afraid to write stuff we may not want to hear.

Personally I'm going to judge Breslow mainly on results.

In a way this makes me glad that we have a very 'human' manager with Cora.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Breslow - Figures out the politics of the organization

This did not happen in my lifetime. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

The first two reactions to the writer show quite the contrast -- which is what makes a good board.

One allows his hatred for the manager to call the current CBO a "godsend." The latter is also a Deverssend, sending his team leader in extra base hits, runs scored, runs batted in, and walks (1st in AL) to San Francisco... after alienating the guy the past four months.

The other is glad the Red Sox still have the same manager who is known and respected for interpersonal skills -- which in modern baseball is often said to be more important than making out a line-up or choosing the best late-inning bullpen match-up.

Maddie deserves praise for another honest article, covering the already-controversial stint of Boston's latest front office genius. I am still intrigued about the fired scout's choice of Zoom insult.

He didn't call Breslow any number of overused swear words; he called him a stiff -- as in, dead body.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

Controversial Red Sox 12-Time All-Star Slams Organization Over Rafael Devers Fiasco - Newsweek

[ocaladick]

I don't agree with your premise. Major League baseball has many purposes, none of which are being nice. If Devers would not have sulked and tanked his first 19+ at bats, he would probably still be with the team and the sox would have won enough games to be right on the Yankee's tail. If a person worked for me like Devers worked for the sox, he would have been fired.

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, ocaladick said:

I don't agree with your premise. Major League baseball has many purposes, none of which are being nice. If Devers would not have sulked and tanked his first 19+ at bats, he would probably still be with the team and the sox would have won enough games to be right on the Yankee's tail. If a person worked for me like Devers worked for the sox, he would have been fired.

If Breslow had not lied in his year end presser and said that he would talk to Devers prior to any changes to his position and subsequently lied to Devers about saying they weren't interested in signing Bregman or trading for Arenado and Devers was going to be the 3b or even spoke to Devers prior to ST, Devers would still be a Red Sox. 

[dgalehouse]

When you get a new Sheriff in town, some of the folks who had become comfortable in their positions do not like it. Too bad. As I recall, it was like that with Dombrowski as well.  To me, the Sox are now finally getting back on track after the dumb move of firing Dombrowski. Breslow will do things his way, as he should. The hangers - on in the front office just need to do their jobs. As for Devers, thanks for the memories and good luck with the Giants. The team will be just fine without you. 

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

When you get a new Sheriff in town, some of the folks who had become comfortable in their positions do not like it. Too bad. As I recall, it was like that with Dombrowski as well.  To me, the Sox are now finally getting back on track after the dumb move of firing Dombrowski. Breslow will do things his way, as he should. The hangers - on in the front office just need to do their jobs. As for Devers, thanks for the memories and good luck with the Giants. The team will be just fine without you. 

Averaging 1.7 runs/game without Devers! 

Sox currently on a 2.5 runs/game over the last 8 (28th in runs, 2nd in K%). 

[notin]

3 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Wait......the Red Sox had a human element under Bloom???

Absolutely,  AI can do a lot of things, but it cannot yet duplicate the level of indecision and waffling that Bloom brought to the organization…

[dgalehouse]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Averaging 1.7 runs/game without Devers! 

Sox currently on a 2.5 runs/game over the last 8 (28th in runs, 2nd in K%). 

Yes. That is a really significant sample size. The Sox have floundered for several years with Devers as the featured performer. 

[notin]

49 minutes ago, ocaladick said:

I don't agree with your premise. Major League baseball has many purposes, none of which are being nice. If Devers would not have sulked and tanked his first 19+ at bats, he would probably still be with the team and the sox would have won enough games to be right on the Yankee's tail. If a person worked for me like Devers worked for the sox, he would have been fired.

I don’t think it’s fair to accuse Devers of tanking and sulking. He got off to a slow start, but that could easily be attributable to adjusting to his new role, which was effectively being asked to pinch hit 4 times a game every day.  I can understand a mental adjustment there…

[notin]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Averaging 1.7 runs/game without Devers! 

Sox currently on a 2.5 runs/game over the last 8 (28th in runs, 2nd in K%). 

If you’re going to use stats this way, you take credibility away from other stat-based arguments.  And you know that…

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Absolutely,  AI can do a lot of things, but it cannot yet duplicate the level of indecision and waffling that Bloom brought to the organization…

From what I've heard is that Bloom did talk to players more than Breslow and did try to have more of a connection with people. He was available for the team when Vaz was traded. Breslow apparently traveled all the way to Seattle, but when reporters asked players if they've spoken with Breslow, not one say they had. C'mon man...

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

Yes. That is a really significant sample size. The Sox have floundered for several years with Devers as the featured performer. 

They were 4th in runs on June 9th. You think they'll be 4th in runs on September 30th? 

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

If you’re going to use stats this way, you take credibility away from other stat-based arguments.  And you know that…

Right. Stats you don't like are bad. I get it. The offense is not going well right now. They are leaning on young guys that will struggle at times. Toro will regress. Narvaez will regress. Story is not consistent. Duran is not 2024 Duran. Losing Devers is going to be a problem for this offense. 

[dgalehouse]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

They were 4th in runs on June 9th. You think they'll be 4th in runs on September 30th? 

On September 30th, they will be preparing for the playoffs.  Just my opinion, but I'm usually right. 

[jad]

Breslow talking???   Seriously?  Have you read and tried to construe ANY of the incoherent statements he's made?   He's the Yale version of Don King

[notin]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Right. Stats you don't like are bad. I get it. The offense is not going well right now. They are leaning on young guys that will struggle at times. Toro will regress. Narvaez will regress. Story is not consistent. Duran is not 2024 Duran. Losing Devers is going to be a problem for this offense. 

I didn't say that.  I think they do need a hitter quick.  Yoshida is a talented hitter, but you don’t replace your Ferrari with a Chevy Equinox without a drop off in performance .
 

Bottom line, offensive hit won’t be proven using a 5 game sample size that includes 2 games Devers played in…

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

I didn't say that.  I think they do need a hitter quick.  Yoshida is a talented hitter, but you don’t replace your Ferrari with a Chevy Equinox.  
 

Bottom line, offensive hit won’t be proven using a 5 game sample size that includes 2 games Devers played in…

What specifically about those stats do you not like? 

1. I'm worried about the offense because of the makeup of the roster this year (not long term). 

2. The offense is in a funk, but is being bailed out by the rotation that is balling out. 

3. Without a big bopper at the top of the lineup, it's infinitely harder to see who is going to carry this lineup going forward. 

4. I like Bregman, but his 158 wRC+ is the highest it has been since 2019 and seems like it make regress some as well. 

[Bellhorn04]

Yes, there are 3 teams in notable offensive funks right now:

-Red Sox

-Yankees

-The team that's playing against the Red Sox

It's strange because June is usually a good hitters month.

But that's baseball.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Wait......the Red Sox had a human element under Bloom???

My first thought, too.

I'm not so sure DD, Ben & Theo were all that personable, either.

[moonslav59]

We lost 25% of our offense with the Devers trade.

That's more important than having an approachable GM.

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yes, there are 3 teams in notable offensive funks right now:

-Red Sox

-Yankees

-The team that's playing against the Red Sox

It's strange because June is usually a good hitters month.

But that's baseball.

With the Yankees, if you can slow down Judge, the rest of the lineup seems very ordinary. 

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

My first thought, too.

I'm not so sure DD, Ben & Theo were all that personable, either.

This is just rewriting history for Breslow's sake. Breslow is intentionally not communicating with players. This has not come up before. 

[Maxbialystock]

18 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Right. Stats you don't like are bad. I get it. The offense is not going well right now. They are leaning on young guys that will struggle at times. Toro will regress. Narvaez will regress. Story is not consistent. Duran is not 2024 Duran. Losing Devers is going to be a problem for this offense. 

Love it.  You're on the side of the OP:  Breslow stinks and the loss of Devers is catastrophic.  I disagree.

In the movie Moneyball, the GM/CBO spends more time in the locker room than the manager.  Horsehockey.  But the manager is also cold-hearted about dumping players to get what he wants, and I believe that's the way CBO's must be.  

I don't especially like Breslow because he lied to Devers, dumped Sale while paying his first year salary with the Braves, is paying Gilolito $40M and Buehler $20 for very little return, etc.  

Breslow inherited a mess created by both CB and his boss JH, who I suspect wanted CB to work miracles the way the Rays do every year--low payroll, high performance.   Didn't work.

We are now 1 1/2 seasons into what sure looks like a rebuild.  Four freaking rookies, all of whom have been or are currently starters, on the big club.  Brand new and high-priced Bregman, Crochet, and Chapman who have all been terrific (despite Bregman going on the IL).  And right now a rotation that looks astonishingly competent.  Duran, Rafaela, and Abreu all had good rookie or sophomore seasons last year and are still around.  

As moonslav points out, when Bregman returns, the Sox will have a pretty good lineup:  Narvaez behind the plate, Bregman at 3b, Story and Mayer at SS and 2b, Toro/Gonzalez at 1b, Anthony, Rafaela, Abreu, and Duran in the outfield, and a neat righty/lefty combo--Ref and Yoshida--to DH.  Wong as backup catcher.  Plus a revived rotation and a pretty decent bullpen.  

On top of that, not paying Raffy $280M to DH, which gives Breslow some spending flexibility to go after more pitching or whatever.  Yes, there is some risk in letting Raffy go, but to me it's all for the good.  

For the record, I liked Raffy as DH, where I thought he flourished.  But that contract of his is a monster.  The day Bregman was confirmed as the Sox thirdbaseman was the day Raffy was headed out.  

[Bellhorn04]

18 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We lost 25% of our offense with the Devers trade.

That's more important than having an approachable GM.

That's a pretty large number to be tossing around.  You think our runs scored is going to go down by 25%?

[Maxbialystock]

17 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We lost 25% of our offense with the Devers trade.

That's more important than having an approachable GM.

I seriously doubt that 25%, but agree on an "approachable GM."  

I also like your lineup when Abreu and Bregman return and Yoshida/Ref are the DH.

Raffy was our best hitter, but to what end when the pitching stunk?  The pitching is the thing that will get the brass ring--or at least a postseason stab at it.